Surcy named Bloomingdale football coach

Brian Surcy said he was “living a dream” Friday morning when he learned he had been named the head football coach at Bloomingdale High School.

Surcy, a running back who graduated from Bloomingdale in 1996, had missed getting the Bulls’ head coaching job in 2007, but now, at age 36, he said feels, “fully prepared to step in.”

“Timing is everything, and I have to say this feels right,” Surcy said. “All my experience (working as an assistant at Middleton and Tampa Catholic and the past two years at Bloomingdale) have prepared me for this.”

Surcy, who coached running backs the past two years, replaces John Booth, who was named the head coach at Bradenton Manatee on July 1. Booth thinks the Bulls are in good hands with Surcy.

“(Surcy) has the knowledge and the drive and he can step right in and hit the ground running,” Booth said. “I think he can continue building a great program for Bloomingdale.

Surcy — who made sure to give props to Booth, who led the Bulls to a 6-4 record in 2013 — said Bloomingdale can’t rest on last year’s success.

“Last year means nothing if we don’t get better every day,” Surcy said. “We’ve got to be committed and I’m going to do everything possible to make sure we are. We’ve had a great offseason program but we need to keep working hard.”

Bloomingdale can’t afford a letdown because it plays in one of the area’s toughest districts, Class 8A-District 6 with Plant, Wharton, Alonso, Newsome and Riverview.